Unless otherwise stated, all images, content and recipes are original and are the sole property of Mary Foreman, DeepSouthDish.com. No photographs or other content may be used without prior written consent.

Privacy Disclosure

Any personal information you provide (e.g., name, email address, etc) will never be released to any entities outside Deep South Dish. As with most websites and blogs across the Internet, third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user's prior visits to websites.

Affiliate Disclaimer

Deep South Dish is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to products at amazon.com. Your support is greatly appreciated - Thank You!

Food, family and memories are as intertwined in the South as if woven on the same thread. At any function we attend, from a party to a wedding to a funeral, we are as likely to talk as much about the food that was there, as we are about why we are gathered. ~Mary Foreman

I'm your cook, not your doctor. ~PAULA DEEN

I found out what the secret to life is: friends. Best friends. ~Ninny Threadgoode

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Through the Tastemaker's program from Foodbuzz, I recently had the opportunity to try Crisco's line of olive oils, available in three varieties — 100% Extra Virgin, Pure, and Light Tasting. Most of us know the benefits of including a good extra virgin olive oil in our diets to occasionally replace some of the other fats we love. Olive oil is a healthy fat, a cholesterol-free food and is high in antioxidants. But frankly sometimes the flavor is a bit too heavy for some dishes, or we need an oil that can hold up to heat.

If you've been around here long, you already know that I use a good bit of olive oil, and with Crisco's lighter versions, it's easy to transition in the places where extra virgin oils just won't fit. With the lighter versions, you can also try replacing butter with olive oil in favorite dishes like mashed potatoes, or drizzled on baked potatoes.

Keep olive oil in a small cruet right on the dinner table to encourage family members to use it for drizzling on salads, in soups, stews, for dipping bread, and even drizzling over pastas. And you can use it for one of my favorite tips, as a kitchen helper for easy clean up of sticky things like honey, mustard, and syrups.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is best for when you really want the olive flavor to stand out. You'll use this one for salads dressings and marinades, or to drizzle in veggies, pastas, soups, stews and dipping. Most often my salad dressing this days is a drizzle of olive oil right on the salad, with a few splashes of apple cider or red wine vinegar sprinkled on top, a few herbs added and maybe a grating of Parmesan. Bold and fruity, the extra virgin is the perfect oil for that. Crisco's olive oils are blended from several different sources - Argentina, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Tunisia. A code on the bottle will indicate from where the batch was derived. Mine was a blend of Spain and Tunisia. Crisco Extra Virgin olive oil is quality certified by the North American Olive Oil Association.

Use the Pure Olive Oil variety when you want that olive oil flavor, but a little bit lighter. Use this one for light sauteeing, grilling, roasting and marinades. This olive oil still has the taste of the olives, but is much milder on the palate than the stronger extra virgin. I tried this when I needed some pan sauteed shrimp for a quick bisque I was cooking and it worked wonderfully. Try brushing it on meats before grilling. Also quality certified by the North American Olive Oil Association my oil came from Spain.

Mild and more stable at higher temperatures, the Light Tasting Olive Oil is the one you want for frying, stir frying, cooking and for baked goods. Instead of the usual canola I would use, I used this one to pan fry pork chops for my husband - one of his favorite ways to eat them - and was very pleased with the way it fried. I also tried it to make a light roux for my Cajun shrimp stew and it tasted wonderful. This would be the oil to use as your everyday cooking oil where you want the benefits of olive oil, but not necessarily the distinct flavor of the olives. The flavor of the Light Tasting Olive Oil is very light, with a trace hint of the olives. My oil was a blend of Spain and Tunisia.

I really enjoyed visiting the Cooking Central section of Crisco's website, already rich with information and recipes for using their products, including the Omega 3 and peanut oil products, there's also a section for cookies, pies, kids, plus tips, seasonal cooking, and cooking basics. To help you learn how to incorporate more olive oil into your diet, there's also an entire section devoted strictly to their line of olives oils. On the Welcome page you'll find a personalized recipe slider - just drag the slider over to select type, ingredients and cooking method and get suggestions specific to what you select. For instance, choose entree, meat/fish and saute/fry and get recipes with the Crisco Olive Oil best suited for that. Select the "Recipes" tab at the top and you'll see tabs for each variety of Crisco oil.

There are recipe videos, a bit of history, a store finder, facts and tips - it's a great website - check it out! Pick up the free Crisco Mobile App at the website and you can bring recipes, cooking tools, shopping lists and more with you, wherever you go. Check out the newsletter, RSS feed, and stop by The Power of Family Meals while you're at the site for family mealtime ideas. Y'all know how I feel about getting folks back around the family table. Be sure to Like Crisco on Facebook to pick up tips, recipes and coupons!

Disclosure: I received free product from Crisco though the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

Hi Mary, I switched to olive oil for all my frying a long time ago & use the light. When I fried squash blossoms the other day I added a couple pats of butter just to get that butter taste. I do go back to some good ole bacon grease at times! Don

Thanks for taking the time to comment - I love hearing from readers and I read every single comment and try to respond to them right here on the site, so stop back by!

From time to time, anonymous restrictions and/or comment moderation may be activated due to comment spam. I also reserve the right to edit, delete or otherwise exercise total editorial discretion over any comments left on this blog. If your comment serves only to be snarky, mean-spirited or argumentative, it will be deleted. Please mind your manners.

Hey Y’all! Welcome to some good ole, down home southern cooking. Pull up a chair, grab some iced tea, and 'sit a bit' as we say down south. If this is your first time visiting Deep South Dish, you can sign up for FREE updates via EMAIL or RSS feed, or you can catch up with us on Facebook and Twitter too!

You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients. ~Julia Child

The classic southern plate for supper is made up of meat and three, cornbread or rolls & a tall glass of sweet iced tea.

Oftentimes what makes a recipe southern, is as much a state of mind as it is a matter of geography - Southerners simply decide a particular food is southern, and that's that." ~Rick McDaniel, Food Historian

Material Disclosure: This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Unless otherwise noted, you should assume that post links to the providers of goods and services mentioned, establish an affiliate relationship and/or other material connection and that I may be compensated when you purchase from the provider. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything when using my recipes and you should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

DISCLAIMER: This is a recipe site intended for entertainment. By using this site and these recipes you agree that you do so at your own risk, that you are completely responsible for any liability associated with the use of any recipes obtained from this site, and that you fully and completely release Mary Foreman and Deep South Dish LLC and all parties associated with either entity, from any liability whatsoever from your use of this site and these recipes.

ALL CONTENT PROTECTED UNDER THE DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT. CONTENT THEFT, EITHER PRINT OR ELECTRONIC, IS A FEDERAL OFFENSE. Recipes may be printed ONLY for personal use and may not be transmitted, distributed, reposted, or published elsewhere, in print or by any electronic means. Seek explicit permission before using any content on this site, including partial excerpts, all of which require attribution linking back to specific posts on this site. I have, and will continue to act, on all violations.